Before decisions can be made at council, committees are made up of city councillors and other members of the community.
Committees analyze and discuss issues using reports brought forth in council and then present their findings at the council meetings before council can vote on an issue.
The Corporate Services Committee, along with the city clerk, work as the money keeper of the city.
It is Sandra Weyland’s first year as chair of the committee and she says she has learned a lot in her new position.
“It’s about the administrative areas of the city, bylaws and policies.”
Meetings of the committee can include reports from fire and RCMP representatives to discuss issues around the city.
“If there are questions or if we’re hearing a lot of concerns about crosswalk safety or things like that, we can raise the issue with them.”
Protective services and public health come out of the Corporate Services budget and the finance minister is always at the monthly meeting to give their report about the city’s finances.
“Taxation is always part of the directors report.” Says Weyland.
Since they are responsible for looking after the financial side of the city, the Corporate Services Committee is always looking for ways to promote their free TIPPs program, which would break up taxes into monthly payments instead of sending out one big bill in July.
Weyland says this makes it easier for residents to pay their taxes.
When it comes to the financial side of municipal governance, the committee is in charge of the day to day administration, says City Manager Roy Hardy.
“It makes sure the administration is doing what they need to do and has the resources to do it and it looks at the laws and bylaws we’re supposed to enforce.”
City purchases, from small items to large items in terms of how and why they are purchased, are also discussed through the committee, says Hardy.
When the auditors report comes in to take a deep look at the city’s finances, the committee will act as the audit committee.
“A lot of work that they do is a lot of the monitoring on the financial side.” Says Hardy.
A lot of time is spent on policy work as well, says Hardy. City Clerk Sandra Pauli does a lot of the policy work for the city.
“We have policies in place, they do need to get reviewed every once in awhile.”
Updating policy ensures that the city is using the “best practices and the best techniques that are out there,” says Hardy.
For the shipping container bylaw that was amended in June of 2015, Corporate Services did a lot of work changing the policy.
“There were people that were wanting some kind of policy developed or bylaw.”
Pauli did a lot the work on drafting the bylaw, says Weyland, which was then reviewed and discussed by the committee before being brought to council for their feedback. Then there was a public hearing to get feedback from residents.
Not every policy or bylaw is brought to Corporate Services for analysis and change but if there are issue that do not fit within the responsibility of other committees or departments, Corporate Services takes over to discuss, says Hardy.
“You end up getting the broadest range of things that you would never expect to because when they don’t know where it goes to, Corporate Services committee is usually asked to look into it.”
The types of bylaws or policies that fall into this category usually span multiple departments or it is a brand new area that the city does not have a department for.
Bylaws that are in the realm of Corporate Services deal with taxation, city based human resources issues and policy, bylaw appeals, and all the little bylaws like pest control and sidewalk clearing.
“If it is not covered by a federal or provincial statute, it is a municipal piece, it is usually our bylaw enforcement officer that deals with that and that person reports through the city clerk to the committee.” Says Hardy.
The city clerk has a lot of other jobs that is their responsibility. They will also communicate with provincial and federal ministries on behalf of the City of Humboldt, they’re in charge of cemetery administration, and keeping records of city activity.
“Every piece of paper that is subject to freedom of information requests or a legal document, it’s always the clerk’s document and the clerk’s area that deals with those particular aspects.”
Along with the committee, Pauli does a big job administratively, says Weyland.
